1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of medical fluid devices, in particular, a microbial detection assembly for detecting microbial contents of a sample substance.
2. Description of Related Art
In the medical field, a common medical procedure is to test for the presence of bacteria in a patient's body fluids, particularly blood. Traditionally, a blood culture vial having a bacterial growth medium (e.g., soy broth) and head space (e.g., nitrogen or oxygen) is provided and a small quantity of blood is injected through a pierceable septum into vial. The vial is incubated at a specified temperature and monitored for bacterial growth. If the blood contains bacteria, the bacterial growth generates carbon dioxide. Monitoring the carbon dioxide content can be accomplished by methods well established in the art, including radiochemical, infrared absorption at a carbon dioxide spectral line, or pressure/vacuum measurement.
Upon determination of a positive blood sample (i.e., blood containing bacteria) a clinician may need to withdraw the positive blood sample to perform further medical examinations. Withdrawal and transfer of a positive blood sample from a known blood culture vial can be cumbersome and typically requires insertion of a syringe needle into the pierceable septum for subsequent withdrawal of the sample into a transfer syringe followed by removal of the sample from the transfer syringe. Use of the transfer syringe and syringe needle increases the risk of an accidental needle stick to a clinician and potential contamination of the blood.